Research Subject Area: Demography

REF impact found 52 Case Studies

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Summary of the impact

Trafficked persons have benefitted directly from van den Anker's research
at UWE through improved support and legislation. Her policy model on human
trafficking prevention assisted changes in the UK, Ireland, Portugal,
Czech Republic, Belgium and Sweden and informed local policy development
through her training of politicians, civil servants and NGOs in Bristol,
Birmingham and Wales. Increased multi-agency working promoted by van den
Anker has led to the establishment of new support services like a safe
house and the Migrant Rights Centre in Bristol, directly benefiting
migrants. International dissemination contributed to agenda changes in
international organisations such as the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe.

Submitting Institution

University of the West of England, Bristol

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Demography, Policy and AdministrationLaw and Legal Studies: Law

Summary of the impact

Southampton based research has demonstrated to policymakers the benefits
of temporary
migration through overseas savings and skill acquisition which contribute
to the economic
development of the home country. The research has challenged traditional
notions about the
adverse effects of the 'brain drain' and directly contributed to the
design of international migration
policy in labour sending countries. It has also proactively influenced the
policy recommendations of
international organisations (e.g. ILO, Worl Bank) regarding return
migrants and their enterprise
creation. The World Bank used Southampton researcher, Wahba's research and
expertise when
assisting the Egyptian Government in the preparation for "Mode 4" in the
General Agreement on
Trade in Services (GATS) in 2010.

Submitting Institution

University of Southampton

Unit of Assessment

Economics and Econometrics

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

Thousands of poor rural workers from 11 island states in the Pacific have
benefited from the
findings of twin research programmes led by Alan Winters of the University
of Sussex — one on
small island economies and one on the temporary mobility of labour. New
Zealand's Recognised
Seasonal Employers Scheme (RSE), which welcomes workers from poor Pacific
Islands for the
agricultural season, is a direct outcome of his research. Winters was also
instrumental in designing
and implementing the RSE in a way that permitted formal evaluation and
which has become an
exemplar of good practice. The evaluation shows that households in Vanuatu
and Tonga benefiting
from the scheme have experienced average increases in income of 35-40 per
cent.

The RSE has been described by World Bank staff as `among the most
effective development
projects ever evaluated'. Persuaded by the positive evaluation, the
Australian government has
overcome longstanding reservations and introduced a nearly identical
scheme, which is potentially
much larger. The RSE also inspired the imaginative US response to the 2010
earthquake in Haiti,
providing 1,000 temporary visas for unskilled Haitian workers. And
Winters' research on temporary
labour mobility and the RSE underpins developing countries' efforts to
start serious negotiations on
the issue in the WTO's Doha Round of trade negotiations.

Summary of the impact

The quality of estimates in the 2000s of immigration to local authority
areas in England needed radical improvement. School of Geography (SoG)
researchers Rees and Boden developed a method, based on administrative
data including NHS Patient, National Insurance and Higher Education
records, to improve the accuracy of immigration estimates. The research
had a direct impact on the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which
adopted and further developed the method for annual estimates of local
immigration statistics. These are used as inputs to mid-year population
estimates and projections, which play an important role in formulae for
allocating funds to local authorities and health bodies.

Submitting Institution

University of Leeds

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

Research at Oxford's International Migration Institute (IMI) on the
driving forces of global migration processes, conducted in conversation
with international stakeholder groups, has significantly affected the ways
in which migration is conceptualised and viewed by experts, international
organisations and governments involved in formulating migration and
development policies. The new perspective arising from IMI's research
fundamentally challenges the common assumption that migration is driven by
poverty and distress, and holds that migration is in fact an integral part
of the process of human and economic development. This view was adopted by
the United Nations in the UNDP Human Development Report 2009 and
has significantly influenced the UK government's Foresight report on
Migration and Global Environmental Change.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Anthropology and Development Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

Through the production of policy and practice reports, public engagement
events, provision of
continuing professional development (CPD) and training for practitioners,
and dialogue with key
stakeholders in government, the research team on sexuality and intimacy in
the OU has had a
direct impact on policy and practice concerning intimate lives in the UK.
In particular, they have
effected change in policy and public understandings of both bisexuality
and intimate relationships.
Underpinning this work is a motivation to shape contemporary debates about
our intimate lives to
further social justice and improve quality of life.

Submitting Institution

Open University

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

In a contemporary world preoccupied with the protection of children, it
is profoundly shocking to learn that child labour played a key part in
Britain's industrial revolution. Indeed that this pioneer economic
transition would not have happened in the way that it did without child
labour. Jane Humphries draws this startling conclusion from a study of
more than 600 working-class autobiographies. These offer unprecedented
insights into child labour, family life, careers and schooling. Seen from
below, through the eyes of history's everyman, the costs and benefits of
industrialization acquire new edge. The impact of Humphries' work has been
to change public understanding of this momentous divide by integrating
humanity back into economic history and trauma back into the Industrial
Revolution.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

History

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health ServicesStudies In Human Society: Demography, Policy and Administration

Summary of the impact

Research at York undertaken by Bradshaw, Skinner, Corden and Davidson,
directly influenced
child support policy throughout the period 2008-2013, informing the
radical change that abolished
the Child Support Agency and returned child maintenance to the hands of
parents to make private
agreements under the `Child Maintenance and Other Payments' Act 2008. It
also contributed to
the decision to disregard child support payments and thus allow child
support to increase lone
parent incomes and reduce child poverty. More recently our research has
contributed to the
evolution of policy under the Coalition Government in the 2012 `Welfare
Reform' Act, which
introduced new `relationship support' services to improve co-parenting
relationships, reduce
conflict and improve child well-being.

Submitting Institution

University of York

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken by Barlow at Exeter into cohabitation, marriage and
the law has shaped, informed and influenced long-running public
and policy debates in Britain over the need to reform aspects of
family (property) law, in light of widespread public confusion and
on-going societal shifts. The research findings on attitudes to
cohabitation and marriage, community of property and pre-nuptial
agreements and the law, each cited in public consultation papers and
reports advocating reform, have influenced the Law Commission and
judiciary in the UK and informed German policymakers. The
cohabitation research in particular has-

Unit of Assessment

Summary Impact Type

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

A body of research on migrant workers and trade unions, undertaken by the
university's Global
Economy and Business Research Unit from 2006 onwards, contributed to
improving workplace
equity, inclusion and societal cohesion following the mass and
super-mobile migration to the
United Kingdom from the European Union's New Member States, and Poland in
particular. The
impact occurred at regional, national and European level through
influencing policy-making
processes and forums. A range of stakeholders and practitioners benefited,
principally large trade
union organisations and their clients, including the Communication Workers
Union, European
Public Service Unions, and the Polish trade union bodies Solidarnosc and
OPZZ.

Submitting Institution

University of Hertfordshire

Unit of Assessment

Business and Management Studies

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and ManagementStudies In Human Society: Demography